haktsfield



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W. I-IARTSFIELD, OF THOMASTON, GEORGIA.

DOOR-FASTENING.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No. 24,632, dated July 5, 1859.

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, lV. HARTSFIELD, of Tholnaston, in the county of Upson and State of Georgia, have invented a new and Improved Door-Fastener; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, represents a face view of a door with this fastener attached, and Fig. 2, is a transverse vertical section through one side of the door frame.

Similar letters of reference indicate cor responding parts in the two figures.

This invention consists in arranging on the inside of a door a bar which tits into a socket attached to one side of the frame and under a bolt which is secured to the other side of the frame, and which, when drawn up, is retained by a pin which projects from a spring placed under the bolt,` and when the door is closed the bar by striking against the lower end of this spring releases the bolt so that it drops down and secures the bar.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, represents a frame to which the door B, is secured by hinges a, in the usual manner. Firrnly attached to the inside of the door bv means of screws Z), is an iron bar C, which extends beyond the door on each side. That end of the bar between the hinges a, of the door works in a recess c, in the frame as the door opens and shuts, and a staple D, is firmly attached to the door frame A, to fit over the end of the bar C, so that any effort made to break in the door on this side is not only opposed by the hinges but also by the bar striking against the staple. The other end of the bar serves to operate a bolt E, which is secured to the door frame in such a position that when the door is shut, the bolt shoots down over the bar C, and retains the same. The bolt slides on a plate F, and to the under side of this plate a spring d, is attached, the lower end of which is bent up so that it projects through a slot in the plate and it is in such a position that the end of the bar strikes against the lower end of the spring when the door is closed. Then the bolt is raised and the door is opened a pin c, which is attached to the spring d, projects beyond the surface of the plate F, and it catches under the edge f, of the bolt. so that the latter is retained. The spring d, works in a mortise g, `in the side of the door frame, as clearly represented in Fig. l.

The operation is as follows :\Vhen the door is open, the bolt E, is retained by the pin e, as above described, so that it places no obstruction in the way of closing the door. As the door closes, the end of the bar C, strikes the lower end of the spring so that the saine is forced back into the mortise g, as clearly represented in Fig. 2, and the bolt E, is released from the pin c, and it drops down by reason of its own gravity so as to catch over the bar and retain it. By these means the door is not only made self locking but it is also closed up perfectly safe against all attempts to open the door from the outside as the bar is secured on both sides to the frame, and no tool will enable any person to reach the bolt E, so as to be able to lift it from the outside.

This arrangement is of particular advantage for back doors of houses or stores, and in fact for all doors in a house, that one eX- cepted which must be opened from the outside in order to obtain access to the house and in order to be able to open the rest of the doors.

That I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

The arrangement of the bar C, which is attached to the inside of a door` to operate in combination with the staple D, and with the bolt E, and spring CZ, substantially as and for the purpose described.

W. HARTSFIELD.

lVitnesses:

J. O. ZIMMERMAN, JAMES W. GREENE. 

